Maintaining UK levels when not in the UK?

[MrsDistinctlyMintyMonetarism]

Currently in the other side of the world, with an educational system that has it's benefits but also drawbacks.

DS (will be 6 in July) was in yr1 back in the UK, has gone down to Prep over here (as they start much later). They do v.little reading, almost no writing, no homework/spellings etc. Which to some degree is fine, great even. His teacher is wonderful and I am really pleased with the increase in his confidence that has come from now being the oldest.

I was always less that thrilled that he was the youngest in his year in the UK, and being a boy didn't make it easier. OTOH he is a bright little thing can read (Mr Men books and similar, was on ORT level10 when we left) and I want to make sure that he isn't too far behind when we return in a couple of years.

We do Mathletics (which he loves apart from the Live competition) and they use a program at school called Reading Eggs which he is coasting through.

So, having bored you all rigid (sorry about that), are there any other really good resources that we could use that would help? He has said that he's worried that he's 'forgotten' how to write so we've been doing some of that at home, but if you have any great ideas I'd love to hear them.

ds's infant school subscribed all the children to education city might be useful if you get the uk version

In same situation so use whizz, mathletics and education city. Also lots of good resources on BBC and curriculum websites, but education systems in other countries do work well, so it I worth considering that actually it works. Tahen me time to realize this

We are also in the same situation. I do Mathletics and reading eggs too and we used to do maths whizz, which I thought was better than the mathletics.

We do a 'science experiment' every weekend from an usbourne book, as at our school there is nothing like that really. Usbourne book

I used Jolly Phonics flashcards like these to teach her the phonic sounds as they don't do that in our school.

I also used the read, write inc reading books rather than the take home readers from our schhol as they were not phonic and sooooooo dull. She is 7 now and she is the only confident reader in her class, and it's not because she is bright because she isn't. At our school they teach the whole word recognition method of reading.

...sounds like Australia!

intotheNittyGritty the education system here definitely has positives, don't get me wrong. It's more that we are returning to the UK in 2 years, ds will be going into year 4 and I don't want him to get a massive knock to his confidence!

Malaleuca - you may think that, I couldn't possibly comment

savoycabbage - I'll take a look at Maths Whizz. He's basically completed all the available stuff for his age group (and the something harder sections too) on Mathletics so it's definitely worth a look. I like the idea of doing some science each week.

ggirl I had a look at Education City, but couldn't work out how to make sure the level he was working at was appropriate, and he said the rewards felt very mean after mathletics!

It feels like a very delicate balancing act - home ed without the freedom if you like!

If any one else has any other ideas I'd be really grateful!

You could buy the Galore Park English, Maths and Science text books at the appropriate levels for your DS and work through them during the year.

You can change the year group on mathletics, at least you can if you are paying for it yourself. Maybe not if it's through the school.

I'm a teacher and I would say don't worry about levels, they're pretty much bollocks anyway. Just follow a natural progression that suits him - go to the charity shop and let him flick through a few books and see what he can read easily and what might challenge him. The ORT and other levelled reading systems are boring in my view and are far too narrow. When there's a fab interested parent like you I advise them to take the opportunity to develop a love of reading in their kids by introducing them to new stories without worrying about what level they're at. Choose a book you like and read it with him. Let him read what he can and then fill in the words he can't read. Then if it's a big book try reading some of it yourself to give him a break and let him jump in again when he's ready. Every single exposure to words, reading and especially good stories will develop his ability. There are tonnes of absolutely gorgeous kids books out there so have fun finding some lovely ones for him. Tying it all to levels sucks the life out of it IMO.

As for maths there are plenty of everyday challenges you can give him which again will develop his skill without making it too boring and which will teach him the value of maths. So maybe when you're cooking ask him to count out the potatoes for you, or say that a new person is coming to dinner so how many plates will you need? And what if postman pat, thomas and fireman sam all dropped in too, how many plates would we need then? Those kinds questions will develop his reasoning about maths and are much more valuable than contextless exercises on the computer. The reward for those kinds of questions is the best kind too - mummy attention and a big smile with lots of praise

recognising british coins would be useful. as is adding and taking away with these... lots of playing shops and putting things on special offer... (taking away 10p etc) or selling things at half price.
bottles and containers to learn about volume. litres ml

cooking will help with weight

counting in 2's 5's 10's have you got a large 100 square poster?

raisin or grape maths is good too... adding and taking away and lots of eating...

have you any cookie cutters to make shaped sandwiches? count the sides and corners and than eat them. cutting them in half to see what shapes you get too.

Thanks for all your help.